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All senior caregivers employed as professional caregivers for senior care companies (senior home care agencies, assisted living communities, nursing homes) are required to pass a criminal background check upon hire.

What information is included in a criminal background check?

A federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA regulates the information which can be collected on a background check.

What information does the FCRA allow to be collected in a background check?

Name match to Social Security Number

Address match to Name and Social Security Number

Criminal court records of arrests going back for 7 years

State laws will over-ride the FCRA. Sometimes, for instance, a state will allow the background check to access criminal history beyond 7 years if the person will be working with children or the elderly. Caregiverlist provides the state background check laws to allow you to find out if the state law will allow an employer to access additional information.

Although the law is called the Fair Credit Reporting Act and includes governing credit checks, usually senior care companies do not check credit records due to the additional expense and because caregivers and nursing aides will not work with financial records. Credit check information, which includes showing bankruptcies and unpaid bills, will also only show a 7-year history, according to the guidelines of the FCRA.